notarebel

thesbo rocks! the only things i would add are that you should check to see if grad students teach any of the acting classes. some CAN be great but some may be slackers that are struggling to not get kicked out of the mfa program. this can also lead to being stuck in classes with random business majors etc with no talent or experience who dont take it seriously. this would suck muchly if you have experience and cant place out of them.

chrism

Thesbo,
your list is great! Addition to #4 for MT types: ask if MT's can take dance with the dance majors. If the answer is no, where and when and how often do they dance?

chrism

Further addition to #4 for MT's: who teaches voice to MT's? if you're an acting student, can you take voice with the same teachers who teach the MT's or do the acting students who want private voice study with other teachers (such as vocal performance grad students, etc. )? Is private voice ORr a voice class part of the first year curriculum?

wct

Thesbo-

You truly are amazing! I sure hope I get the opportunity to meet you someday. Let me know if you are ever in Southern California!

thesbohemian

Dani,
Thanks for getting me to write it all down! I figured I’ve learned a lot about the process over the past year so I may as well pass it on for those to come. At my school, we have a library of seniors’ past college searches. Most come to like a manila folder. Mine is indexed in two redwells! (Awaiting random "Monica" joke from Notarebel ...)

Chrism,
Good ideas. I think checking to see if the singing lessons are taught by grad students is a good idea, too. I imagine that would be a strong possibility if you're not actually a voice major. Generally, the types of BAs I'm thinking about aren't going to put much emphais on MT though I'm sure there are exceptions. It's probably very possible to "design your own" major at some, though.

WCT,
Thanks! Hopefully, I’ll do at least one summer apprenticeship on that coast in the next four years and maybe head that way after I finish up for either work or grad school. Maybe I’ll pop in on you one day out of the blue. "Hi. I'm Thesbo ..."

jewelyard

calarts or suny purchase? any advise? i'm stuck. also rans are utah, ucsb, cornish, u arizona, fullerton and uci. i'm an also ran at julliard and usc.

briarbrad

I think most people would agree that SUNY Purchase is considered among the top 5 acting programs in the country. Of course, one should not base their decision on prestige alone, but I believe its a rather important factor for considering life after college.

I actually visited Purchase b/c I have some relatives that live in Chappaqua right near there. So one good thing I can say about Purchase is that it's only like a 30 minute train ride to Manhattan!

jewelyard

thanx. wow. now that is getting tempting to cross the country for. i didn't know it was like top 5. i just did a walk in audition for them at the regionals because i heard they are good. i know they have some amazing alums. i'm leaning that way.

thesbohemian

Jewelyard,
Mucho congrats on those acceptances! Purchase is definitely an awesome high-intensity program. In case you haven’t already looked it up, here is a link to their BFA Curriculum. Notice that they have a GE core that goes on top of all that so, if you haven't exempted most of it through AP, you’d better stock up on the caffeine if you go! Here’s link to their Live Journal Community. You might want to look over the archives to see how it makes you feel and compare it to what you feel about CalArts. They’re both great programs and you’ll be getting to know a friend of mine at either place!

jewelyard

ha! thanx. i have looked at that schedule and it is totally kamikaze. the acting part is okay but those liberal arts could be death on top of it. i need to call them and see if i can do them in summer school at home and transfer them back. if i can do that, i think i am leaning that way. i think i can get out of all but 3 with my APs.

this will help me make up my mind ... are both your friends girls? who is hotter? the one going to calarts or the one going to purchase? jk

thesbohemian

Oh, jewelyard, jewelyard, jewelyard ... They both exude certain hotness and they both like boys. I won't say which one IS a boy. heheheeeee That's a good idea about getting the GEs done in summer school if they'll let you. Hope it all works out.

jewelyard

purchase it is! i can do the liberal arts stuff in the summer. thanx for the info.

wishes55

Well today we got a call from SMU Theatre dept where my son was on the waiting list~~~~they said they have an update?? what does this mean?? is he in?? Can we afford it?? We had decided on another school~~~But now this He will call them tomorrow and see what they have to say??

This is so nerve racking!!! Susan

thesbohemian

Wishes55,
That sounds like a good thing! Let us know how it comes out.

Jewelyard,
Congrats! I hope you love it there. BTW, you chose the boy.

thesbohemian

One of the first things I asked about when I started posting on CC was which schools with good theatre departments offer really good merit money. I didn't get a lot of response, so I did a lot of research that will no longer do me any good. May as well spread the "wealth." If some of you juniors who are reading are stat rich and aid poor from being middle class, you might want to look at some of these schools - especially if you rocked the PSAT ...

Full Tuition or more for National Merit Finalists plus good money for other stats:

University of Alabama
University of Arizona
Arizona State University
Baylor University
University of Central Florida
University of Evansville
University of Nebraska
Northern Illinois University
University of Oklahoma
Oklahoma City University

Big Awards for other stats or half-tuition for NMFs:

Boston University offers half tuition to some NMFs and a few Trustee Scholarships covering full tuition and fees.

Carnegie Mellon University offers some half tuition scholarships. They have Presidential Scholarships, too, which I assume would cover full-tuition on top of whatever grants are offered. I somehow missed this when I was doing my college search and didn’t apply or audition.

Catawba College offers lots of full and part tuition scholarships

University of Miami

Otterbein College offers good scholarships though not all the way to full tuition.

Southern Methodist University offers half-tuition plus $2,000 to NMFs as well as a few President’s Scholar Awards covering full tuition.

Tisch offers some $20,000 scholarships though the standards are fairly murky as to how they're awarded. (See discussion on the MT Thread.)

Tulane University

I'm sure there are a lot of other schools that offer good merit money, but they either don't say it on their websites or what they do say is very vague. If any faculty types are reading, you might want to take note and get that changed. Dang. There are a lot of people reading this thread, but very few posting. JUNIORS HOLLA!!!